Getting up close: No Rest for the Wicked

No Rest for the Wicked presents a very interesting style of graphic art, gameplay, and story, with a dark and sad setting, showing a world that was once beautiful and now destruction reigns, being a good RPG with a soulslike appeal that certainly catches the attention of many players.

The resurgence of the plague

No Rest for the Wicked, developed by Moon Studios and published by Private Division and Take-Two Interactive, was released in early access on April 18, 2024, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series S and X, as well as PlayStation 5.

It is an RPG game set in the year 841, with soulslike elements, using an isometric camera, rich exploration, and extremely punitive combat, where we control a sacred warrior sent to the island of Sacra to investigate the Plague, a terrible disease that turns humans into demonic creatures.


 

The power of destruction

The story of No Rest for the Wicked, besides being interesting, has a great impact on the game's setting, being a completely dark world plagued by the Plague, the weight that the story carries is much greater, the dialogues with the characters are melancholic, and there is always the certainty that everyone is constantly suffering.

As I mentioned before, the story follows a sacred warrior from the Cerim group, who is summoned to investigate and destroy the Plague at any cost, thus our journey begins on a ship, during a fierce storm, where, after some friction with the crew, who are afraid of you because they think this storm is always where you are.

Therefore, we explore the ship, talk to various NPCs, break MANY boxes for loot, such as treasures and food, until our boat is fatally destroyed and we engage in a very frantic battle. It is worth noting that this beginning also serves as a tutorial for exploration and combat.

After the shipwreck, we have the true beginning of the game, we wake up on the beach, with no equipment or weapons, and it is up to us to explore and continue the story.

The world exploration is done through simple mechanics, but they are made more difficult by the adoption of the isometric camera, a detail that I will explain shortly.

The available mechanics are, killing enemies and collecting their loot, breaking boxes and barrels containing everything from food and treasures to equipment, and opening chests scattered throughout the world, which can be easily accessible or even well hidden, leading us to one of the most fun mechanics, similar to a platform game system, we must balance and jump from point to point to access the chests, in addition to being able to take shortcuts to reach other areas.

In addition, the food and ingredients we collect can be used at the campfires spread throughout the world to cook recipes that are unlocked as we play.

No Rest for the Wicked has a resource system that functions as money, on the player's interface there is an indicator of the amount of this currency that has three variations, each with a certain value, in addition to being able to collect wood and stone, for example, to help in the construction and improvement of items.

Furthermore, we have a health bar, an energy and breath bar, which we need to manage, especially in combat, since attacks, defensive moves, and dodges are also factors that must be calculated, these bars can be restored using food and special items.

The game also offers checkpoints, called Whispers, these whispers allow you to respawn at the cost of item durability.

As we progress in the game, we also have access to improvements, which function as runes, which can be selected by shortcuts on the keyboard/controller and have an impact on combat, as well as having an attribute menu where we can build our character as we see fit.

Combat and the soulslike essence

The combat of No Rest for the Wicked is the game's greatest charm, comparisons to the soulslike genre have become inevitable mainly due to the complexity of combat, combined with the explorable world, full of secrets, treasures, and hidden enemies. There is also a memory of Diablo IV, both in setting and in the camera used, however, limiting itself only to that, since No Rest for the Wicked adopts a more individualized and intense combat.

The combat, as I mentioned earlier, is influenced by the character's stamina, with that said, the mechanics of attack, defense, special attacks, dodges, and counterattacks, all have a direct impact on our breath, added to the fact that enemies are extremely aggressive, the game's combat is indeed very challenging, reminiscent of soulslike titles like Elden Ring.

It is important to point out that the game can be frustrating for some players, as even the most common enemies can be difficult to eliminate, so it is important to be familiar with all available mechanics, including stealth, which, although presented in the tutorial, requires the player to remember to use it, as the game encourages direct combat.

No Rest for the Wicked is a project with a lot of personality and a stunning setting, being a single-player game, the package offered is very fun (although frustrating at times due to combat and the isometric camera), but it is engaging enough to keep you wanting to play more, with the help of the graphics and art style, the whole organic atmosphere created is truly impressive.


 

A bold release

The release of No Rest for the Wicked is a positive point for the entire industry, as it is notable for all the care taken with the voice acting and cutscenes, mainly. The gameplay is good and the game has few bugs, in addition to receiving a lot of attention from the developers, with constant updates and hotfixes in the first days of release.

The tutorial is very comprehensive and manages to build a good narrative and atmosphere and teaches everything necessary to get by.

The game is localized in several languages, but only has English voice acting, which unfortunately is detrimental to some audiences, but the voice acting offered is certainly able to please the vast majority of players.


 

An immersive experience
 

The experience of No Rest for the Wicked is very good and immersive, the game's optimization leaves something to be desired, as even good machines suffer from frame drops, despite being a heavier game, the optimization could be better worked on, although the game recommends playing with a controller, the experience with mouse and keyboard was tested and proved to be quite inferior, giving the impression of having more rigid and less precise controls, however, with some changes in the controls, it is possible to play more smoothly.

Good mechanics and beautiful graphics are very positive qualities of this game, the story is a shining point and the immersion of the created atmosphere is excellent.

The game also offers good quality of life, with non-invasive menus, tutorials, and relevant tips, as well as good inventory and resource management.
As the game is in early access, bugs and performance issues should be fixed with its official release.
 

This content was only possible thanks to the provision of the access key by Private Division.